Ungli is an upcoming Bollywood film, which is directed by Rensil D’Silva and produced by Karan Johar, Hiroo Yash Johar and Apoorva Mehta. It stars Emraan Hashmi, Kangana Ranaut, Randeep Hooda, Neil Bhoopalam and Angad Bedi as the “Ungli Gang”. Sanjay Dutt features in a negative role. The film revolves around the Ungli Gang and how they try to teach a lesson to the corrupt government officials. It is a film, which is way different from regular Dharma Production films, and also carries a social message. Rensil, who has directed ‘Kurbaan’ and the TV series ’24’ previously, returns with this film. While Salim-Sulaiman had composed the whole soundtrack for ‘Kurbaan’, this time they get but one song, and they are joined by three other composers, namely Sachin-Jigar, Gulraj Singh (Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s long time assistant and also composer of ‘Dil Tutiya’ film soundtrack) and Aslam Keyi (of ‘War Chhod Na Yaar’ fame). Gulraj Singh is the lucky guy with two songs, while the others have got one song each. Normally I cringe at the idea of a multi-composer album (there are some exceptions though, the most recent being “The Shaukeens”) but this time, I could sense something special, because Karan Johar always pays very close attention to the music in his productions. So let’s see if the Ungli album lives up to the Dharma standards or whether it lowers those standards.

Sachin-Jigar, the talented young duo, who are fresh from the success of the ‘Happy Ending’ album, get the privilege of starting off this album with their catchy tunes. Though they couldn’t quite prove themselves in their first collaboration with Karan Johar, this time they have made sure to set that right. An addictive flute hook starts off the song, and keeps repeating throughout the song. The flute gets interrupted by the tumbi, making the song suddenly sound very Punjabi-style still retaining the catchiness. Vishal’s interventions of “dance, da da da dance” increase the grasping power of the start. The starting itself is so catchy, so naturally the whole song after that follows the footsteps of the start. Vishal, with his energetic voice, is a perfect choice for this club dance number. He carries the whole song on his shoulders. Anushka Manchanda, surprisingly has only a rap portion, but that small portion is greatly effective as well. The antara though it might not appeal to you that much on the first listen, will grow on you slowly and you will find yourself loving that part of the song. The duo has made way better songs than this in the past and also in the most recent ‘Happy Ending’, but the song works perfectly for this movie and for a Karan Johar movie, these type of songs are expected and needed, too! Lyrics by Amitabh Bhattacharya are something which Shabbir Ahmed can write, but only after he (Shabbir) consults a psychiatrist. 😂 Nothing philosophical was expected anyways from this song’s lyrics, so whatever. Catchy and addictive! A typical Dharma club song, which will gradually appeal to all!#5StarHotelSong!!

Fascinating and unique and also unusual vocals start off this song, kinda making it sound like those Christian choirs, very beautiful and refreshing. Gulraj Singh, who was the assistant of Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy for a long time, has definitely got a lot of influence from their style of composition, and that reflects in his work as well. The guitar riffs resemble Shankar-Ehsaan-Loy’s typical guitar template, yet sound fresh to the ears. The melody itself is a strong, wonderful and grasping one, with an unusual and new sound, which gets even better mostly because of the magnificent backing vocals. The composition is an instantly lovable, sweet one, with many things that appeal to you and grab your attention. Firstly, as I said, the guitars are one of the main attractions after the backing vocals, and they give a nice rhythm to the song. Then come the flutes, and oh! What can I possibly say about them? They are so calming and soothing, that even Ankit Tiwari’s flute usage (he uses them brilliantly whenever he does, and no offense to him) seems ordinary in front of them! The sargam by the backing vocalists in the interlude, is not an ordinary one, and it has wonderful church choir touches. That whole part reminded me of brilliant genius Rahman compositions that just take your breath away! The antara has such a sweet, catchy and distinctive tune, that I liked it the most out of the whole song. Another great part is the hookline, “ishq tera mera rab se zyada…” which is also very catchy. Lyrics by Manoj Yadav are very beautiful as well, and I don’t remember him impressing that much before this song. This song makes you wonder why Gulraj Singh isn’t getting many, many more songs! A sweet, romantic composition which leaves you spellbound! A must-listen!#5StarHotelSong!!

Well, the film revolves around corruption in the government offices, so one expects at least one satirical song, right? This expectation is met with the next song on the album, which Gulraj gets to compose. Techno sounds interlaced with catchy and unusual voices singing ungilingilingali give a booming start to the song. Vishal Dadlani, in his regular enthusiastic way of singing, starts well with a strong control over his vocals, knowing when and how to modulate them to give a great effect. The backing vocals in this song, again, are commendable and Gulraj Singh has used them just as good as in his former song, this time in a different genre so more bubbly and perky voices. Aditi Paul, Benny Dayal, Pinky Maidasani and the composer himself get the credit for those awesome voices. The aiyo’s and na-na-nana-nana’s and baba ri Baba’s are the main attractions of the backing chorus. Not to mention the cool “at your service” part! The arrangements add to the quirkiness and liveliness of the song. The rock guitars provide the most energy, and here too, the sitar pops in (it seems to be a featured instruments in the month of November! ‘Kill/Dil’, ‘The Shaukeens’ and now this!) and does a great job to add to the excitement. Neeti Mohan has a very small part which she sings well, but it would have been better if she would have got more space in the song. The lyrics by Manoj Yadav highlight the corrupt practices going on in the government nowadays. The reference to the middle finger as middle bai is hilarious! 😃 The state that the country is in nowadays, Manoj has perfectly described it through the lyrics, also covering the theme of the movie at the same time. Something unusual, but still very catchy, and ultimately a very innovative experiment by Gulraj! Well, I guess that’ll be another#5StarHotelSong!!

What do you do when you’re stuck in a problem, not knowing what to do next, not sure of what will happen next? Most people just sit there and keep worrying, while the others try to find a path to the solution, usually by praying to God. Well, Amitabh Bhattacharya has written this song exactly based on this situation which everyone has surely faced sometime or the other. Salim-Sulaiman, who don’t compose that much these days (the last time their compositions were heard was in ‘Mardaani’) have composed a beautiful, soulful melody to Amitabh’s lyrics, and let me tell you, it is a very, very emotional and divine, yet modernly composed song. Armaan Malik, has sung good, but I think there would have been more soul in the song, if Salim himself had sung it. The arrangements, though minimal, are top-notch and go with the mood of the song. The guitars calm you, the piano soothes you, while Armaan’s makes you feel blessed. The song, unfortunately, lasts for a short duration of three and a half minutes only. This song wouldn’t be one of Salim-Sulaiman’s best, but it surely does leave a mark on you, which lasts for pretty long. The backing vocals, which I guess are Salim-Sulaiman themselves have a very beautiful effect on the song, and if they weren’t there, I doubt whether even half the effect would have been observed in those places. Another must-listen track on the soundtrack! Salim-Sulaiman do what they’re best at again!#5StarHotelSong!

Another upbeat track, well, this time composed by the last composer left, Aslam Keyi. I had not thought much of his debut album, ‘War Chhod Na Yaar’, and had only liked one song, ‘Main Jaagun Aksar’ from that movie. However, since all the songs of this album were getting unfolded one after the other and each one was awesome, I considered a bit and expected something good from him too. However, he disappointed compared to the others. He has given a very average track, full of Punjabi dance track typicality, and also the irritating Mika-ish voice which Dev Negi has sung in. Shipra undergoes a transformation from her ‘Ishq Bulaava’ performance, and here she sings a dance track, that also very well. Her part, actually is the most appealing for me. So apparently, she is versatile, at least we got to know that much because of this song. The hookline is very heard-before and typical, nothing fresh and nothing to applaud, either. Towards the end the tempo increases, not giving any different effect whatsoever. The arrangements are done well, but it doesn’t matter here, as the main part, that is the composition and vocals itself are weak. The lyrics are like that of an item song, of course they aren’t good. After that cracker of a soundtrack, this one could rightly be called as last and also the least! Aslam disappoints!

Ungli is another multi composer album, just like ‘Yaariyan’, ‘Samrat & Co.’ and ‘The Shaukeens’, in which, inspite of there being a horde of different composers with different specialities altogether, all the composers have come together as one, and provided us with an enjoyable and memorable album. They are like four fingers (little finger, ring finger, index finger and thumb) of a fist, which contribute to make up the fist. Of course one of them has to be shorter and seem worthless (little finger) while one has to be most important (thumb), which would, in this case, be Aslam Keyi and Gulraj Singh respectively. The index and ring fingers, would be Salim-Sulaiman and Sachin-Jigar, both equally effective. As for the remaining one finger, if you insist on knowing about it, it has got to be the producer as he has had a very great impact on all of his albums and always pays attention to the music of his films, as shows here as well. Karan Johar has succeeded with the multi composer business finally, after that failure of an album with ‘Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania’! An album made worthwhile only because of the producer, who has chosen talented composers, who have tries their best to live up to the expectations!

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